Last season, four Milwaukee-area football programs − Badger, Grafton, Franklin and Marquette − earned their way to WIAA state championship games, including an all-area title game with Marquette defeating Franklin behind a stellar performance from its offensive line, running back Tommy Novotny and a suffocating defensive performance.
This season, 17 area programs reside inside the top 10 of the coaches poll across the seven 11-player divisions, including six of the top-10 teams in Division 1 alone.
Let’s highlight 11 of those programs that have a legitimate shot to raise a gold ball inside Camp Randall Stadium during the third week of November, starting with a potential contender in D5 that could be the area’s first representative at state in the division since 2019.
Division 5
Milwaukee Academy of Science
Whether you’re looking across the area or the state as a whole, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more explosive offense than Milwaukee Academy of Science’s. The Novas currently sit at a perfect 8-0 in their first season as members of the Midwest Classic Conference and have looked impressive week in and week out. They currently possess one of the state’s leading passers in Bralyn Albritton (1,771 yards is 12th in state, 22 touchdowns is seventh in state), and rushers in Josiah Johnson (1,648 yards is fourth in state, 28 TDs is first in state), and Kameron Williams, who has 35 catches and seven touchdowns. This team has been breaking scoreboards, scoring 52-plus points in five of their eight wins this season. The competition will stiffen in late October into November that will challenge their high-powered offense, but this team has the makings of a state-title contender. They’ve pitched four straight shutouts on defense entering Week 9 and have only allowed 63 points all season.